The present invention relates to a diagnostic and therapeutic method for identification and treatment of postural disturbances.
Postural asymmetries of the human body, generally denoted as xe2x80x9cbehaviorsxe2x80x9d, affect more than 78% of world population, implying symptoms, and in particular pain, for a large part of the subjects involved. These asymmetries are often related to the generic pathologic condition commonly addressed as xe2x80x9cback painxe2x80x9d.
In a recent paper appeared on xe2x80x9cLancetxe2x80x9d, an overview of the impact of chronic back pain in industrial societies is provided. According to such paper, in the United States back pain is the most frequent cause for working ability limitations in subjects under forty-five, the second most frequent reason for medical visits and the third most common reason for surgical interventions. Furthermore, each year about 2% of United States working population receives indemnities from insurance companies due to back pain.
A similar situation can be found in Europe. In particular, back pain is responsible for 12% of working days lost due to illness in Great Britain and for 11% to 20% of lost working days in Sweden.
Up to now, said postural asymmetries have been generically attributed to functional disturbances of the musculo-skeletal system, and rehabilitation and pharmacological treatment have accordingly been used as a remedy. However, in most cases these remedies have proved not able to provide a definitive and satisfactory solution. Furthermore, pharmacological treatment has the important disadvantage of not being tolerable to all subjects.
Recently, the so-called plantar reflexotherapy as been introduced, which consists in the stimulation of particular areas of the foot sole substantially corresponding to the insertion points of the intrinsic muscles responsible for the maintenance of the arcus plantaris. Through such stimulation it is possible to affect the general physiology of the human body for therapeutic purposes. However, potentialities of plantar reflexotherapy have not been fully exploited yet in clinical settings as a tool for routine diagnosis and treatment.
The technical problem underlying the present invention is that of providing a method for etiologic diagnosis and for therapeutic treatment of postural disturbances allowing to overcome the drawbacks mentioned above with reference to the known art.
Such problem is solved by a method for etiologic diagnosis of postural disturbances, comprising the steps of:
identifying the type of a patient""s postural disturbance to ascertain whether it is of an ascending, descending or multiple type, by means of mechanical maneuvers each apt to inhibit a respective foot or cranial nervous input to the Central Nervous System; and
in case an ascending postural disturbance is identified, identifying the specific intrinsic muscle(s) of the foot sole responsible for such disturbance.
Preferably, the step of identifying the type of postural disturbance in its turn comprises, in a patient having an hypertonic hip rotator muscle, the steps of: positioning the patient""s hand controlateral to the rotator hypertone onto the shoulder omolaterali to the hypertone, so as to interrupt inputs coming from the cranial receptors; and positioning the patient""s hand omolaterali to the hypertone under the patient""s nape, so as to interrupt inputs coming from the foot receptors.
Furthermore, the step of identifying the foot intrinsic muscle(s) responsible for the postural disturbance may comprise the steps of: evaluating a basic force of a chosen muscle, i.e. the deltoid muscle, in an unperturbed condition to establish a force threshold; and evaluating the same force while performing a light tactile stimulation in the insertion point of each intrinsic muscle of the foot sole.
The diagnostic method may also provide for the investigation of breathing and/or deglutition abnormalities.
A further preferable step of the method provides performing an ocular convergence test, which test provides a dynamic phase, wherein a pen or the like is moved towards the patient""s face, centrally with respect thereto, up to touch the patient""s nose, while the patient""s eyes follow the pen or the like throughout its movement, and a static phase, wherein the patient is asked to look at the pen or the like positioned in contact with the patient""s nose.
According to the same inventive concept, the invention also provides a therapeutic method for correction of ascending postural disturbances, comprising a step of exteroceptive, pressoceptive, proprioceptive and/or reflexogen stimulation of an insertion point of an intrinsic muscle identified as responsible for a patient""s postural disturbance.
Preferably, said therapeutic stimulation is performed by elastic discrete particles arranged at a shoe sole or located inside a plantar, and more preferably arranged at one or more locations selected among adductor hallucis, flexor hallucis brevis, flexor digiti quinti brevis, abductor digiti quinti, cuneus supinator, cuneus pronator and abductor hallucis.
The present invention also provides a combination of a method for etiologic diagnosis of ascending postural disturbances and of a therapeutic method for correction of such ascending postural disturbances, comprising the steps of:
identifying the type of a patient""s postural disturbance to ascertain whether it is of an ascending, descending or multiple type, by means of mechanical maneuvers each apt to inhibit a respective foot or cranial nervous input to the Central Nervous System;
in case an ascending postural disturbance is identified, identifying the specific intrinsic muscle(s) of the foot sole responsible for such disturbance; and
performing an exteroceptive, pressoceptive, proprioceptive and/or reflexogen stimulation of an insertion point of the intrinsic muscle(s) identified as responsible for the ascending postural disturbance.
In the present context, the expression xe2x80x9cpostural disturbancexe2x80x9d is to be understood in a wide sense as comprising all types of musculo-skeletal asymmetries, muscle hypotone or hypertone, eventually associated with localized pain.
The present invention provides some relevant advantages. The main advantage lies in the fact that the diagnostic method of the invention allows reliable functional diagnosis to be carried out routinely in a clinical setting. In its turn, the therapeutic method of the invention allows functional recoverxe2x80x94as opposed to xe2x80x9crehabilitationxe2x80x9dxe2x80x94without the need for pharmacological treatment.
Other advantages, features and steps of the present invention will be made apparent in the detailed description of some embodiments thereof, given by way of example and not for limitative purposes.